Month: November 2022

NOCTURNAL DEPARTURE set release date fornew HELLS HEADBANGERS album

Today, Hells Headbangers announces December 30th as the international release date for Nocturnal Departure‘s highly anticipated third album, Clandestine Theurgy, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl version will follow next year.

Canada’s Nocturnal Departure were birthed from yellow moonlit darkness between Beltane and Lughnasadh of 2017 into a campaign of rejection and disgust for Christendom and the hypocritical norms of society. Nocturnal Departure redirect the psychomachia of the human condition through ritual and occultism, focusing it outwards as the moon gathers and reflects light from the sun, with raw and illuminating indifference. After releasing their debut album, Cathartic Black Rituals, and follow-up Worm Moon Sessions on cult underground imprints Death Kvlt Productions and Les Fleurs du Mal, founding members Funeror (guitar/vocals), Kryptys (drums), and Illartha (bass) are joined by new guitarist Necrogeist in grim occlusion with Hells Headbangers. The band’s first crime for the label (and third) overall, Clandestine Theurgy, features this bolstered lineup and brings forth the band’s most focused statement to date.

Almost literally a band out of time, Nocturnal Departure harken to the grim days of the ’90s black metal underground, particularly its most devout sectors in the United States. While once the object of mockery from the ignorant despite featuring some of the most original and unorthodox outliers, it’s USBM that has the last laugh, as the idiom has developed over the decades and still rings true in the darkest of hearts. Nocturnal Departure encapsulate this mood and era in its most perfect, poignant form on Clandestine Theurgy. Featuring gloriously macabre cover art created by Abomination Hammer, indeed, its title is something of a rallying cry for such hearts – “those who know, know,” as the adage goes – and its raw, desperate violence evinces elements of Judas Iscariot, Masochist, Black Funeral, Summon, and Blood Storm but undeniably with a personality all its own. TRADITIONAL black metal, then, no more but definitely no less: Clandestine Theurgy is a throwback masterclass.

In the meantime, hear the previously revealed track “Ceremonial Storm” here:

Preorder info can be found HERE. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Nocturnal Departure’s Clandestine Theurgy
1. Ceremonial Storm
2. Dark Spells of the Infernal Spirit
3. Clandestine Theurgy
4. Unhallowed Exhumation
5. Triumphator of Unearthly Realms
6. Fetid Manifestations of Wretched Imagery
7. Sacrificial Summon Under the Sign of Amduscias
8. Sabbat Ablaze
9. Flesh Torment

MORE INFO:
www.nocturnaldeparture.bandcamp.com

www.hellsheadbangers.com

Deströyer 666 stream entire new album in advance of release date!

DESTRÖYER 666 are proud to stream their entire new offering ‘Never Surrender’ in advance of the release date! The pummelling new album is set for worldwide release on December 02, 2022, but can already be listened to in full here:

Pre-orders are still available HERE!

The cover artwork for ‘Never Surrender’, created by Alex Kemp, can be found below along with the track-list and further album details.

Track-list
1. Never Surrender (3:47)
2. Andraste (3:51) [LISTEN]
3. Guillotine (3:24) [WATCH]
4. Pitch Black Night (4:43)
5. Mirror’s Edge (4:48)
6. Grave Raiders (5:01)
7. Savage Rights (3:59)
8. Rather Death (4:52)
9. Batavia’s Graveyard (5:46)
Total: 40:11

DESTRÖYER 666 continue to do what they are best at: kicking ass and hammering out heavy metal that is slamming straight into the face. No compromise, no sell out, no bullshit!

DESTRÖYER 666 don’t do whiny nostalgia but simply stick to their old school roots, which are reaching straight down into the golden age of metal while allowing themselves to sound fresh and remain relevant. The band originally started out as a solo project of BESTIAL WARLUST guitarist KK in Australia in 1994. As early as with debut album ‘Unchain the Wolves’ (1997), fast-tracked towards international acclaim. The even stronger second full-length, ‘Phoenix Rising’ (2000) had the Australians relocating to Europe to be able to satisfy the soaring demand for touring and festival shows. After a round of line-up changes, third full length ‘Cold Steel… For an Iron Age’ (2002) cemented the band’s excellent reputation. After a hiatus caused among other issues by disenchantment with the business, DESTRÖYER 666 returned with ‘Defiance’ in 2009 and followed up on this success with the rough and gritty ‘Wildfire’ (2016) seven years later that saw them touring and performing at all the relevant metal festivals worldwide on a regular basis again. The Australians filled the gap between the latest albums with the hard-hitting EP, ‘Call of the Wild’ (2018) that comes with a distinct taste of an unrepentantly classic flavour.

The outlaws from down under deliver another pummelling and relentless lesson in aggression with full length number 6(66). ‘Never Surrender’ is a furious assault of black thrash, chainsaw riffs, and warlike drums, offering no moment of reprisal as it rages on for 40 unyielding minutes.

With this offering, DESTRÖYER 666 takes no prisoners!

Line-up
KK: guitars, vocals
Ro: guitars, vocals
Felipe: bass
Perra: drums

www.facebook.com/destroyer666page
www.destroyer666.uk

Shop: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/NeverSurrender

Available formats:
Digipak CD
Clamshell Box 
Digital
Vinyl in various colours
Cassette

SATANIC WARMASTER set release date for new WEREWOLF album

Today, Werewolf Records announces December 30th as the international release date for Satanic Warmaster‘s long-awaited sixth album, Aamongandr, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow next year.

Satanic Warmaster needs no introduction. Since the band’s formation in 1998, founder Werwolf has prolifically – and provocatively – stoked fires that refuse to be quenched. A totally independent artist in all aspects, Satanic Warmaster has sold hundreds of thousands of albums internationally and played stages all across the world, from north to south and east to west. The band’s black metal is devoutly traditional but eternally fruitful, standing as an immovable monument to the purest and proudest foundations of the artform. As such, Satanic Warmaster is hated and loved with equally strong passion, with those naysayers only feeding that fire with falsehoods and gross misconceptions. There is no middle ground: no apologies, and no surrender.

And so the battle continues with Aamongandr, Satanic Warmaster‘s first studio full-length since 2014’s acclaimed Fimbulwinter. Indeed, where that album evinced a diversity of songcraft and, more so, a concertedly polished aspect that majestically made that obsidian gleam, Aamongandr explores that duality with equally compelling results. In fact, with the album wasting no time in kicking into high gear, Satanic Warmaster sounds more urgent than ever – and yet, here is where the band’s epic side is also revealed in full. Cryogenic and caressing is its melodicism, in the glare of burning churches, and deftly dusted with subtle synths that heighten the mysticism at the heart of the SW sound, Aamongandr‘s six songs charge forth with the grim grandiosity of mighty steeds; not for nothing is one of the album’s highlights titled “Duke’s Ride (Ride of the Spectral Hooves).” All told, this sixth long-form statement of intent is immediately recognizable as Satanic Warmaster but irrevocably proves that its creator’s imagination continues to flow as infinitely as the Atlantean depths.

In the meantime, hear the previously released single “Bafomet” here:

Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of the legendary (and late) Ken Kelly, and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Satanic Warmaster’s Aamongandr
1. Bafomet [5:28]
2. Duke’s Ride (Ride of the Spectral Hooves) [6:29]
3. Berserk Death [5:09]
4. The Eye of Satan [5:00]
5. Darkness… Triumphator [6:58]
6. Barbas X Aamon [7:49]

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/satanic.war.terror

www.werewolf.fi

American blackened death metallers Appalling stream new album

Today, American blackened death metallers Appalling stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album, Sacrilege. Set for international release on December 2nd via Personal Records, hear Appalling‘s Sacrilege in its entirety here:

Lurking in the depths of Richmond, Virginia and featuring members of Fire Faithful and U.S. Bastards, Appalling have patiently built a sturdy discography that’s both refreshing and timeless. Integrating both death metal and black metal, Appalling‘s sound is more than just bog-standard “blackened death metal” clogging up so many distro lists; honed during tours of the American East Coast and Midwest, their two full-lengths to date, 2017’s Secrets of the Adept in 2019’s Inverted Realm, incisively displayed the band’s songwriting acumen and deadly execution.

Now Appalling emerge with a record so heretical that God tried to burn down a van with them in it: appropriately enough, Sacrilege. On Sacrilege, Appalling explore topics of mental illness, spit on Christianity, and revel in Satanic sins of the flesh. Musically, the band have considerably stepped up the brutality whilst never forgetting the fiery hooks or hammering riffing – and of course, keeping everything blackened to a crisp. As such, Appalling are equally appealing to fans of 1349, Morbid Angel, Satyricon, and Vader – or simply, those into well-written and well-recorded extreme metal.

Life is ugly, full of sin and damnation. Revel in that reality with Appalling‘s Sacrilege.

Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Appalling’s Sacrilege
1. The Morningstar After
2. Life In Prism
3. Gilded Restraints
4. Unwavering Feeling Of Dread And Despair
5. Father Inferior
6. Collection Plate
7. Pavilion
8. Nunsploitation
9. These People Need To Die

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/appallingmusic

www.personal-records.com
personal-records.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/personalrecords666

French death metal maniacs Sépulcre stream their new EP 

Today, French death metal maniacs Sépulcre stream the entirety of their highly anticipated new EP, Cursed Ways of Sheol. Set for international release on November 25th via Invictus Productions, hear Sépulcre‘s Cursed Ways of Sheol in its entirety here:

In late 2020, Sépulcre emerged from the cobwebbed crypts of deepest, darkest Brittany with their debut demo, Ascent Through Morbid Transcendence, through Invictus. Yet another worthy addition to France’s currently thriving death metal scene Sépulcre eschewed the HM-2 worship of so many of their domestic contemporaries by diving deeper into the past and roaming wild ‘n’ free among the halls and corridors of the most ancient, all-caps DEATH METAL.

Now, the quartet run even wilder with Cursed Ways of Sheol. Sépulcre‘s first proper EP, Cursed Ways of Sheol evinces the same characteristics of its demo predecessor – haunting leads, berzerk battery, and scarred throat from the abyss – but more importantly also evinces stronger songwriting and absolutely pummeling production. Put simply, THIS is how a fucking DEATH METAL record should sound, and Sépulcre run riot with 24 more minutes of eldritch darkness and feral lawlessness. Plunge deeper into the EP and one will find boundless horror, spiraling in delirium from “Aethyr Emanations” into the 10-minute closing epic “Foul Divinity Enthronation.”

Still young and hungry, Sépulcre sate the darkest desires with Cursed Ways of Sheol: evil DEATH METAL dripping with the horror of an old mausoleum, haunted by the spectres of tortured souls!

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Sépulcre’s Cursed Ways of Sheol
1. Cursed Ways Of Sheol
2. Relics From Unheartly Cult
3. Aethyr Emanations
4. Foul Divinity Enthronation

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/114775230366403

www.invictusproductions.net

www.facebook.com/invictusproductions

ABSOLUTE KEY premiere new track – features members of CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS+++

Today, Finnish sonic iconoclasts Absolute Key premiere the new track “The Cellar Door”. The track is the third to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated fifth album, The Third Level of Decay, set for international release on December 21st via Signal Rex. Hear Absolute Key‘s “The Cellar Door” in its entirety here:

Absolute Key is another, magickal work of Antti Klemi, vocalist/lyricist for the ever-singular Circle of Ouroborus and editor of the esteemed Kaleidoscope zine. While one could make faint comparisons here to Circle of Ouroborus, Absolute Key is very much its own entity, and has proven as much over their feverish discography the last three years.

As Klemi explains, “The name of the album refers to a vision I had in a dream. There were three levels of death – the physical one, the spiritual one, and then the final death where even death is dissolved. No memories, no grieving, no other sides. Just nothing.”

Continuing about the lyrics, he says, “The themes of death and decay are strong on this album in general, too. It’s observing for example how death is present in our everyday life – it’s oozing from the dark corners, from hidden angles and behind cellar doors. There is a poem by Finnish poet Eino Leino, where the main character is seeing death and demons everywhere and he wants to die, but even his dead ancestors are rejecting him. In the end, he gets his peace just by accepting these horrors around him. Some days are better and some worse, but he relies on those better ones. This is maybe the main message of The Third Level of Decay.”

Absolute Key are just as challenging musically as they are lyrically. “Musically, this album sprung from an idea of totally bleak and monotonous industrial/black metal hybrid, driven by simple, repetitive drumbeats and cold synth/guitar riffs,” Klemi explains. “With time, these songs took many twists and turns, layers were laden one after another, and the labyrinth grew more complex and serpentine. So, The Third Level of Decay is play between two elements – blunt, primitive, and ‘physical’ core and spectral, unconscious, and ‘spiritual’ details. And that third level, death of deaths, humming over this all.”

To celebrate the release of The Third Level of Decay, Absolute Key will be making its live debut at this year’s Invicta Requiem Mass festival, curated as always by Signal Rex. Drown in layers of sonic defiance!

Begin drowning with the previously revealed “A Hidden Angle” HERE at Absolute Key‘s Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Absolute Key’s The Third Level of Decay
1. A Hidden Angle
2. Closer, Further
3. Flakes of Ash
4. A Wrecked Spine
5. The Cellar Door
6. The Third Level of Decay

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/absolutekey111

www.signalrex.com
www.facebook.com/signalrex

RIENAUS stream new KVLT album in advance of its release – features members of AZAZEL+++

Today, Finnish black metallers Rienaus stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album, Luciferille. Set for international release on November 25th via KVLT. Hear Rienaus‘ Luciferille in its entirety here:

Formed in 2009 and led by the iron fist of erstwhile Azazel member Mavrofos, Rienaus have quietly built a sizable catalog of paradigmatic Finnish black metal. With two albums, three demos, an EP, a split album, and even a live record to their blasphemous name, Rienaus have dependably and doggedly pursued their vision with nary a misstep: so pure, so cold, traditional Finnish hunger – no more, but definitely less. An idiom doesn’t “need” anything when it is already in its perfect state.

And so it goes with Rienaus‘ third album, Luciferille. Immediately, those chill winds of melodic mysticism blow across this tight ‘n’ concise 35-minute record: freezing fire fueled by unfiltered emotion and inner darkness, performed with a conviction one can truly FEEL. As ever, Mavrofos finds that ever-elusive production style that’s both clear ‘n’ shimmering and just a bit roughed-up and raw, allowing the subtly spiraling guitar parts to take hold of the listener’s soul and whip him into a hypnosis of transcendental proportions. However, whereas the hallmarks of the classic Finnish black metal sound are present – both pulsing gallop and hateful headbang, shifting with ease and when the album’s seven central songs call for it – Rienaus manage to explore (subtly, effortlessly) a number of dynamics not often found alongside such tropes, like downtempo clang and almost-motorik grind. But, of course, Luciferille sounds and feels BLACK METAL above all.

To restate the obvious, Finnish black metal doesn’t need to “be” anything more than it already is, and Rienaus deeply understand this intrinsic truth. Discover that truth – again, or for the first time – with Luciferille.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Rienaus’ Luciferille
1. Alkusoitto
2. Uhrattavaksi Siunattu
3. Luciferille
4. Saatanan Valtakunnassa
5. Äärellä viimeisen portin
6. Pedon Merkki
7. Kuilu
8. Äänet yössä

MORE INFO:
www.rienaus.bandcamp.com 

KARG reveal new video from upcoming AOP RECORDS album – features E-L-R

Today, black metal iconoclasts Karg reveal the new video “EBBE//FLUT.” The track is the third single from the band’s highly anticipated eighth album, Resignation, set for international release on November 25th via AOP Records. Featuring E-L-R,  see & hear Karg‘s “EBBE//FLUT here:

Says the band about the track, “‘Grab der Wellen’ (Grave of the Waves / Waves Grave) is the third track of Resignation. Lyrically, this song is about melancholy and that the people feeling that way will never be entirely free of agony and the wish to die. They court death by putting themselves in risky situations, live in the fast lane, or simply burn from both ends. They die way too soon, not literally by killing themselves, but by going one step too far. And in the end, nothing will be left of them, except their love and the memories shared while they were near us and close.”

Karg was founded back in the summer of 2006 as a one-man project. Between 2010 and 2014, Karg was fully formed as a band to play gigs, formally in Germany, Austria, and Central Europe. In the years through 2018, Karg was, like in its beginning, held as a one-man project and solely released albums. With the release of Karg‘s sixth studio album, Dornenvögel, the band celebrated its rebirth as a live unit with special dates in 2018 and 2019. They did their first real tour supporting their seventh album, Traktat, in February 2020. 

At the beginning of 2021, main songwriter J.J. took a long hiatus from the world and lived in a cabin in the woods, where he wrote the main part what should become Karg‘s eighth album, Resignation. A unique album to be sure, Resignation will see Karg will release a bonus 7″ containing two perhaps-surprising covers of Nothing and the Cranberries, translated into German. Equally unique, Resignation features a variety of different musicians such as both vocalists of E-L-R, Klara from Firtan on violin, P.G. from Groza, and Private Paul, a hip-hop artist from Hamburg. With all the help of these great musicians and a grandiose mastering from Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker, and many more), Resignation proves to be one of Karg‘s most experimental and diverse albums. 

The musical style of Karg is still a furious, hysteric mixture of atmospheric black metal and a huge load of post-punk, with significant influences also from grunge, shoegaze, and post-punk. In recent years, the influences from other genres outside of black metal evolved more and more, but they were there, in abridged form, since day one. Lyrically and texturally, Karg was always focused on the more melancholic side of life, such as broken relationships, lost love, estrangement, drug abuse, loss, or suicide thoughts and depression. In contrast to many other bands within the wider “atmospheric black metal” umbrella, Karg‘s lyrics are equally as important as the music. Taken together, Resignation will surely shock, surprise, and awe in equal measure – and Karg wouldn’t have it any other way!

Hear the previously revealed singles “Generation ohne Abschied” – featuring Private Paul – HERE at AOP Records‘ official YouTube channel as well as “Grab der Wellen” – featuring P.G. from Groza and Klara from Firtan –  HERE, also at AOP Records‘ official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Karg’s Resignation
1. Was bleibt (featuring Klara of FIRTAN)
2. EBBE//FLUT (featuring E-L-R)
3. Grab der Wellen (featuring P.G. of GROZA)
4. Generation ohne Abschied (featuring T.L. of Lûs and Private Paul)

Bonus songs on first-press CD & bonus 7″ 
5. Einen Traum weiter dort fangen wir das Licht (The Cranberries – Dreaming my Dreams)
6. Fieberherz (Nothing – Fever Queen)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/kargband 

www.aoprecords.de

Quebec Black Metallers ORPHIQUE stream SEPULCHRAL debut

Today, uprising Québec black metallers Orphique stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Consécration Cadavérique. Set for international release on November 24th via Sepulchral Productions, hear Orphique‘s Consécration Cadavérique in its entirety here:

Orphique, a new player within Québec’s black metal scene, was summoned by David Potter as a means to put his vision into words and music. For his first album, Consécration Cadavérique, Potter has surrounded himself with musicians close to him to realize this vision, the result of which is high-caliber melodic black metal where faster, more traditional parts fuse with atmospheric and progressive passages, somewhat reminiscent of Gris and Sombres Forêts’ musical collaboration, Miserere Luminis. 

Sometimes frenetic, sometimes contemplative, always emotional, Orphique‘s Consécration Cadavérique is a superb new entry into the Québec black metal pantheon! Fittingly, the album will be released at this year’s Messe des Morts festival, curated as always Sepulchral Productions.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Orphique’s Consécration Cadavérique
1. Onirique
2. Vampirique
3. Chromatique
4. Chimérique
5. Sporadique

www.sepulchralproductions.com

HIBERNUS MORTIS stream long-awaited BLOOD HARVEST comeback album – features GIGAN ex-member

Today, reanimated Florida death metallers Hibernus Mortis stream the entirety of their long-awaited comeback album, The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber. Set for international release on November 25th via Blood Harvest Records on CD and cassette tape formats – the vinyl version will follow next year – hear Hibernus Mortis‘ The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber in its entirety here:

Formed in 1996 in south Florida, Hibernus Mortis were something of a cult fixture in the American death metal underground during the late ’90s. A demo and a live album spread their name across that underground, and their debut album, The Existing Realms of Perpetual Sorrow, finally arrived in 2002. An unreleased demo was recorded a year later, but sadly, the name Hibernus Mortis drifted into dust as lineup shuffles squandered the band’s momentum.

But, of course, DEATH metal is eternal (life is not!), and now Hibernus Mortis return from their graven slumber with a perfectly titled second album: The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber. With a revitalized lineup which features ex-Gigan guitarist Randy Piro alongside OG members Cesar Placeres (vocals, drums), Ralf Varela (guitar) and Yasser Morales (bass), Hibernus Mortis here create a gutsfucking whirlwind of authentically ’90s-vintage death metal. From downtuned gallop to cyclonic breakdown, from surge to slam, eerie dissonance to gutter-steeped doom, all pure ‘n’ proper bases are covered – and then brutally beaten down with cold, cruel precision. It’d be simple to say that The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber sounds like not a year has passed since the band’s original but….well, that’s pretty much the truth, and Hibernus Mortis swarm and crush with an intensity that belies their age. 

To restate the obvious, death metal is ETERNAL, and so is Hibernus Mortis‘ muse. Awaken and enter The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber!

Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Hibernus Mortis’ The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber
1. Funebre:The Eternal Sleep (Intro)
2. Endless Dawns Of Somnambulant Exorcisms
3. To Drink The Blood Of The Black Sleep
4. Ascending The Catacombs
5. Grotesque Perishment Into The Miasma Of Darkness Everlasting
6. Vomitus Imperium
7. Enshrined In Spiritual Atrophy
8. Invocations Of Never
9. Vestigial Currents That Transcend The Ether Of Tenebrous Unconsciousness
Embedded Deep Within The Smoldering Embers Of Sempiternal Dusk (Outro)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/hibernusmortis

www.bloodharvest.se
www.bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com